Some weeks are harder than others and this week was a challenging one. After a long weekend for President’s Day my oldest refused to go to school Tuesday. This unfortunately has been a regular occurrence since Kindergarten. He has ADHD and is also highly intelligent (they call that twice exceptional), which comes with its own set of challenges. I was able to have a good talk with him (more than the usual “I don’t know”) and we think it may be time to try medication, in addition to working with the school on ways to help accommodate him.
My middle child was so excited for his end of the season wrestling party and after school Wednesday he spiked a 103 fever out of nowhere. He had to miss his party but was so miserable he wasn’t disappointed. I was so sad for him though. Whatever virus he had really knocked him out with just a high fever and headache. Now that those have resolved he has cold like symptoms (and so do I, here’s to hoping I don’t end up with a fever).
I have found over the years as a mother and maybe just a woman, we often always feel like we’re dropping the ball somewhere. Supporting my children in the way they needed was of high importance to me, but I also work full time. Trying to juggle the needs of kiddos and a job is often quite the feat. I am very lucky that my job offers some flexibility and the ability to work at home when needed (I’m a home visiting nurse and can do virtual visits if necessary).
Despite the flexibility, I came into this weekend tired from overnight awakenings and the mental energy required to try to balance things that in all reality aren’t able to be balanced. My husband is working this weekend and has been called in multiple times to do cases (so many pesky infected kidney stones!). The thing about motherhood that is extra hard sometimes is that no matter how tired you are, there could at any moment be something that you need to attend to. Last night that was my 4 year old fire cracker of a child. While bedtime is often tough with him, last night was EXTRA. He usually has a bedtime of 730 and did not fall asleep until 1030 (my bedtime is usually 9).
I 100% lost my cool on him after trying multiple grounding/calming techniques with him. I got desperate and put him in my bed and let him watch some Mickey Mouse thinking he would fall asleep. HE DIDN’T! He was incredibly restless in bed with us and I couldn’t pin point what was wrong, I asked him if anything hurt and he said no. At 1015 I took him back into his room because 1. I wanted to sleep and 2. I wanted my husband to be able to get some sleep before a middle of the night page came in requiring his attention. He finally settled down to sleep and slept all night. I was sure he would wake up sick this morning, he has a little cough but is otherwise fine.
Want to know the most frustrating thing of this week though? I ordered grocery pick up yesterday and was missing a bunch of food. I was so disappointed because it included healthy snacks for me and some sausage that I was going to cook up and prep lunches for myself for the week (I have not been doing well with eating lunch lately). Well, this morning I am taking out the trash and recycling so I go to pick up the paper bag I thought was empty and it was my bag of missing food.
I was so incredibly frustrated with my carelessness and inability to thoroughly look for this yesterday. About $50 of perishable food gone to waste! I can’t change it now though so just have to move on. Some positives to end my week are that my sick kiddo, while not 100% recovered, has some of his spark back. My oldest was invited to a sleepover at our neighbors last night, I got in a workout this morning which is good for my mental health and Sam and I just made some banana bread together with our overripe bananas. Life is rarely free from complications and part of thriving is learning to take care of yourself despite those complications. Some weeks I am better at doing that than others and this week I don’t think I did a great job of that, but each day is the opportunity for a fresh start.
